


go anywhere you want (anywhere you want me)

by Anonymous



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Ben is Rey's tutor, F/M, First Kiss, Tutoring, a high school nerd au, a lot of this can be ascribed to sleep deprivation because that's how high schoolers operate, everyone knows they like each other, lots of discussions about world history, not really glamorous because it's not, really really modern high school au, technically fluffy, there is a movie date because that hasn't really changed
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-12
Updated: 2020-06-12
Packaged: 2021-03-04 04:55:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,133
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24678025
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/
Summary: “So let’s start with Hitler’s ascension. What do you remember about Germany right after the first World War?”She scours her brain to answer him back, tapping her fingers and sticking her tongue out a little as she’s prone to do. She misses the way he winces in the background as she flips to page 533 of the textbook.Or, a modern high school Reylo AU.
Relationships: Kylo Ren/Rey, Rey/Ben Solo, Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Comments: 20
Kudos: 81
Collections: Anonymous





	go anywhere you want (anywhere you want me)

She shouldn’t have taken AP World History (more commonly known as _World-History-Advanced-Placement,_ or _WHAP,_ because that’s what she wants to do to herself whenever she enters the classroom). She knows she’s an engineering kid. She gets As in chemistry and pre-calculus, not history. Curse her counselor. Now her grades are going to be shit and she’s never going to get into one of her dream colleges. 

She’s roughly calculating how much her GPA for sophomore to senior year will tank if she gets a C in the class when Ms. Holdo taps her on the shoulder. “Hey, Rey, can we talk after class?”

She gives her a measured smile, but it fades off when she grabs her scientific calculator to get a better estimate. _68.3_ looks up at her. _Shit._ She needs a C, above a 75, to actually pass. 

She has a desk by herself in the classroom because Rose, smartly, had dropped it after they’d been given two pop quizzes their first week. It’s a good thing, now, because nobody can see the F she’d gotten on her DBQ on Transatlantic Connections. She turns it around to pass up, trying to ensure that the guy in front of her doesn’t see her grade. His name’s Ben, and he’s pretty nice even though his buddy Armitage is a total idiot, and she doesn’t want him to think she’s stupid. She can see the A on his test over his shoulder and she lets out an involuntary groan. It’s all about the competition, anyways. 

She waits for everyone to leave the class before she gets up to talk to Holdo. Most people filter out — including Armitage — but Ben, strangely, is still seated. After three minutes have passed she bites her tongue and tosses her backpack over her shoulder before walking up to her teacher. Ms. Holdo gives her a nice smile as she walks up and puts aside the essays on her desk. “Rey, I really want you to succeed in my class.”

She blushes red. “I swear, I am, I’m really trying my best—”

“I know,” her teacher interrupts. “I’ve seen the rest of your grades and they’ve always been great. Advanced history classes aren’t right for everyone. Unfortunately, it’s a little too late in the year to drop. Are you alright with me giving you some suggestions on how you can get it up?”

Ben’s still in the back corner. She can’t see him behind her, but he can definitely hear everything. She wants to wince. She really doesn’t want to lose her rep as the smart engineering girl over stupid European explorers. 

“Yeah, definitely.”

The purple-haired woman crinkles her eyes in Rey’s direction before calling out Ben’s name. 

_Oh shit shit shit._ She’s done for. If Hux gets a wind of this it’ll disseminate throughout her computer science class and she needs those guys on her side for the science olympiad elections — _shit._ Yeah, taking an L in a history class isn’t the biggest deal, but these bastards can smell a bad grade like sharks. Which they are.

She gives Ben an uneasy smile as he walks toward her but she’s sure her crazy is shining out of her eyes. He seems to be actively ignoring her before he pauses into place right next to her.

He’s got an interesting bunch of features that are striking, although he’s definitely not what anyone calls cute. She knows a bunch of girls thirst over him, though, for whatever reason. She’s heard jokes about how they want him to _whisper geopolitical conflicts_ to them with his deep voice. She shudders. You don’t really mess with the Model UN crowd. Those guys are crazy and know too much about war.

Ben isn’t quiet. She knows that. But he’s not a know-it-all either; she’s only had two classes with him, WHAP this year and basic physics last, and he does talk — just usually when nobody else does, or when he’s joking about current events with his friends. He’s on the debate team and he does MUN and she thinks he runs some kind of finance club too, or maybe green energy, something like that — and his mom’s a Congresswoman and everyone knows her. He’s been interning at her office forever. She’s not really into that whole part of school politics but she does know that most of those activities entail a lot of talking.

He’s quiet, now, in front of Ms. Holdo. Who’s talking in turn.

“Rey,” she smiles, and it seems a little uncharacteristically vicious, like there’s almost some ulterior motive in the background, “I know that Ben’s been hoping to get in his volunteer hours through tutoring, and I really think that if you’re looking to bring your grade up you should work with him.”

She can _feel_ her face turn red. She’s about to flat-out reject the proposal when she opens her mouth and then promptly closes it again. Then she turns on her heels and does a not-so-subtle lookover of Ben, who doesn’t seem to mind. Ben, whose average in this class is one of the most remarkable the teachers have ever seen because, as he once whispered to Hux, he “genuinely likes this stuff.”

She opens it again, closes it, realizes she looks like a fish, and then opens it one more time. “Um. Okay. Sure, that sounds good.”

Ben gives her a tiny smile. His lips are still closed.

Ms. Holdo, on the other hand, claps delightedly. “Alright, excellent. I’m going to head over and check on Mr. Bacca. Trade numbers, emails, all that. I’ll leave you to decide how often you think meeting will be effective.”

They both echo out a ‘thanks’ as she leaves the room, letting them loiter in the middle of it with the door closed that she’d technically not supposed to do. It’s awkward for all of a second before Ben hands his phone over to her. “Here, add in your contact info. Maybe we can text after school?”

“Yeah, sure.”

* * *

  
  


**Rey:** Hey

 **Ben:** hey! honestly i have a lot of clubs and soccer going on right now

 **Rey:** Yeah, me too, it’s robotics season. We usually meet for a couple of hours after school

 **Ben:** soccer starts a little bit later. do you think you could be a little late to robotics a few days a week? we can just meet a few times, short sessions

 **Rey:** Sounds good. Mondays, Wednesdays, maybe Friday work for you?

 **Ben:** occasionally might have an away game on fri, but it looks great beside that! meet at the library? corner of the summer room? we can start today

 **Rey:** Great, I’ll be there at 3:30

 **Ben:** alright cool! hopefully this’ll work out

 **Rey:** Yeah, I really need to raise my grade lol

 **Ben:** i’m a 100 percent sure you’ll manage it

* * *

  
  


It’s strange at first but she gets used to it.

Ben’s an interesting tutor. He always makes her take online multiple choice tests to ensure that she’s reading the material before he actually lectures her, but he’s learned that her real issue is finding continuity within the text. 

She rolls her eyes. “I just forget everything after we learn it.”

He groans. “That’s the issue. You’ve gotta remember it. It’s a story, remember? It’s not complete until you know the backstory. Like, democracy in America? Ideology, the current political races? To truly understand what’s up there you’ve gotta look at American history and understand the birth of capitalism and all that. Do you remember Adam Smith, at all?”

“Um. Did he conquer modern-day Mexico?

His perspective on WHAP is interesting. Instead of yelling at her he makes her draw mind maps and find ways to connect their vocab words. And he’s strangely optimistic when she eventually breaks him in. He definitely talks more at her than she does at him, but it’s all pretty general stuff until she prods. Then he’s a gold mine.

Ben Solo’s a talkative guy, but it doesn’t seem like anyone ever talks to him about the things that matter. It’s around their fifth session when Armitage walks up to them while he’s attempting to connect the French Revolution to absolutism. Neither of them notice he’s there until he slams the desk in front of them. Ackbar gives them a dirty stare from where he’s filing textbooks in the corner.

Armitage gives her a side eye before leaning in front of Ben. “Hey, talked to your dad about the factory internship yet?”

She sees him roll his eyes through the corner of her eye. “Not yet, man. You asked me yesterday.”

“Yeah, yeah. Whatever. Have fun. You staying overnight at the tourney this weekend?”

“Nah, I’m not going. Didn’t have time to prep the Congress bills.”

“Oh, you’re no fun, Solo,” Armitage edges.

Ben’s been toying with his pencil but he places it straight on the table at that. “Fuck off, _Hux._ I’m not going to do your work for you. Leech off someone else’s research, or, better yet, do your own. We literally have an entire evidence set.”

“Why you gotta be so confrontational, man? You bailed on me last year—”

“The hell? You didn’t do anything. Do your own dirty work.” 

“Fuck you, Solo,” he walks away with a hiss. 

She knows that they don’t really mean it — that they’re both technically friends, and who doesn’t swear at their friends these days — but that conversation still rubbed her the wrong way. It was awfully tense, and she knows debate kids are, well, like that, but still. “Well, he’s an asshole,” she gripes.

“Yeah, tell me about it.”

She puts her pencil down. The Sun King and Napoleon can wait, especially if Ben’s being off topic. “Why’re you friends with him? It sounds like he’s just trying to use you, honestly.”

He laughs. “My mom’s a Senator and my dad runs a car factory. You know the kids in our school, don’t you? I’m surprised you haven’t asked me to introduce you to my dad yet.”

She recoils back. “I’d never do that.”

He looks defeated. “Really?”

It sounds slightly rhetorical but she doesn’t care. “Really. Man, that’s fucked up. You need some real friends.”

“Yeah. I guess I do.”

* * *

**Ben:** hey, how’s the studying for the ww2 quiz going?

 **Rey:** Kinda a mess, ngl. Got home late and now I’m just staring at the textbook

 **Ben:** yikes, need help? i’m done tonight, pretty much free now

 **Rey:** You sure you wanna spend a free night helping me? You probably don’t rlly get those very often

 **Ben:** it’s totally cool, you know i love this stuff anyways

 **Rey:** Ft?

**[Incoming Call from Ben Solo]**

* * *

“Hey,” she smiles, righting her phone so she looks semi-presentable. Thank god she hasn’t changed into her ratty pajamas yet. Ben’s picture is a bit blurry, but he still looks strangely put together as ever, wearing a shirt that has _Organa 2020_ written on it. His hair looks like it might be pulled back. For some reason, that thought puts her mind into overdrive.

“Hey,” he returns it back. “What’s the issue right now?”

“Honestly, everything, I don’t know where to start.”

“Hmm,” he leans back in his chair. She can see a Marvel movie poster behind him. “Did you check out Google Classroom?”

“No? I never really do.”

“What?” he sounds scandalized. “It’s the best place to start. The textbook is kinda overwhelming. Ms. Holdo posts some of her lectures there.”

“Oh,” she opens her computer and opens a new Window, typing in the correct url. When she gets to the Classroom she’s faced with a bunch of videos staring her in the face. “Which one should I watch?”

“What’re you having issues with?”

“I’m not really sure.”

He’s awfully patient. “Like, in terms of continuity? Or like, organization, like what’s actually going on in your head?”

“Um. Organizing what’s going on.”

“Right. So the first thing you’ve gotta remember is that none of this stuff is really that simple. It’s a quiz on World War II but it’s not just gonna be about the major fronts of the war. It’s going to be about the philosophical differences that came out of it and trust me, there’s gonna be at least two questions about nuclear deterrence.”

She’s briefly jealous at just how easily all of this flows out of him. She can recite trig formulas in a second but she can’t really keep track of what he’s saying. The words all jumble together in her brain. She knows that Ben can compartmentalize all of these events really quickly but it just doesn't really work like that for her. She’s good at memorizing and applying stuff, not connecting events centuries apart.

“So let’s start with Hitler’s ascension. What do you remember about Germany right after the first World War?”

She scours her brain to answer him back, tapping her fingers and sticking her tongue out a little as she’s prone to do. She misses the way he winces in the background as she flips open to page 533 of the textbook. 

* * *

She’s repeating all of the important parts of the Green Revolution when Ben’s phone rings. Ackbar would normally be pissed at the noise but it’s Friday and they’re the only ones there. He gestures to the open computer in front of her and she goes back to going through a problem set as he picks it up and mutters some extremities.

“What’s up?”

“Nothing much. Practice got cancelled today, something’s wrong with the turf,” he shrugs. “We can study a little more, if you’d like. Take a later bus.”

An idea comes to the forefront of her mind and she doesn’t really know what part of her says it out loud. “C’mon, it’s Friday, we don’t need to do extra work. We can go grab boba, though?” She winces. “I mean, if you’re okay with that.”

He bends his head towards her, taking her in with his awfully dark eyes before giving her another smile. It’s new, slightly different. She can see his crooked teeth. “If you’re chill with that, yeah. When are your parents expecting you home?”

She thinks about her grandfather and the awfully empty mansion awaiting her and shrugs. “It’s Friday. Whenever I tell them.”

“Same,” he grabs his bag and ID badge, closing his computer and tucking it into its case before sliding it back in. “I haven’t gotten boba in forever. I’m in.”

The doors beep as they sign out. His height is pronounced from this angle — he’s at least half a foot taller than her, and she swears he’s grown since the beginning of the year. He makes a quip about the obvious security cameras and they both laugh and adjust their bags as they walk off campus.

* * *

  
  


Boba turned into a long-winded conversation, which turns into pizza because it’s already six-thirty and their guardians don’t really care.

She’d grown curious about his background and blurted out something idiotic but he hadn’t minded her question about his parents. “My mom’s in DC right now and my dad is always out late drinking on Fridays. I texted my groundskeeper, I’m good. You?”

She’d shrugged. “My grandfather’s my guardian and he doesn’t really care what happens to me.”

Maybe he can see something stormy cross her face because he awkwardly reaches out and places his left hand, the one which isn’t greasy, over hers. They sit in silent solidarity, scarfing down two slices each while observing the _Shark Tank_ episode playing on the TV above them.

When she taps her Apple watch again she can see that it’s seven. This time it’s Ben who proposes an alternative to her dreary post-hell routine of Netflix binges on non-busy weekends. “Wanna catch a movie?”

He lips twist despite her best efforts to keep them still. “We won’t get tickets to anything now, will we?”

He bites his awfully large lower lip and scrolls through his phone. “They’re replaying the last _Galaxy Wars_ movie, if you’re into that.”

“I’ve already watched it, but I’m totally good to go again,” he eyes scrunch. “Why is it still playing, anyways? It’s old now.”

He shrugs. “I don’t know. Let’s check out the tickets. It’s pretty old, the theater’s got to be empty.”

* * *

  
  


The movie theater is a ten minute walk away. They manage to grab tickets for the seven-forty-five showing, loitering around the bookshop and coffee places near it before they go in. They’d argued over who was going to pay, considering neither of them really had a problem with it, but eventually Ben puts on his debater-voice and she acquiesces to let him put his debit card on the table with a pout.

It marks a shift in their attitudes, rather notably, but she tries to fix the strange feeling that follows by running over to the ice-cream scoop place next door. Ben groans as they walk in. “I’ve got a physique to maintain, you know? Coach Snoke is pretty harsh.”

“You’re a high school athlete. A growing man. Shush.”

“You should see what the cross-country kids eat,” he bites back, but he eats the cone she gives him in silence. She’s remembered his favorite flavor. Strawberry, he’d once mentioned. 

They sit down across from each other outside the shop, slowly licking their ice cream as the sun sets. Ben makes some nerdy joke about the importance of food refrigeration and how salt used to be a valuable way to preserve meat and she kicks him under the table. It turns into a full out war of footsie, and she manages to hit his shin at least once. “Fancy soccer player, huh?”

He rolls his eyes but she knows _he_ knows she’s joking. “Ha, so funny.”

“You guys are so adorable!”

The sound comes from right behind them. She swerves her head immediately to look at the middle-aged woman walking inside the store with a smile on her face. She freezes up, ice cream dripping onto the floor, not sure exactly how to react, when Ben reaches out to put a napkin under her cone and lighthearted calls back, “Thanks!”

He helps her reach off the sticky residue on her hands after she eats the rest of her chocolate cone in one bite, still a little dumbfounded at that little episode. Either through sheer ignorance or sheer confidence Ben doesn’t look phased at all. She knows that stupid thing where her face turns red is happening to her again so she quickly excuses herself to go wash her hands in the bathroom.

She does that quickly before standing in front of the dirty mirror, frowning at the makeup smudged around her eyes and clear bags she can see. She knows she needs to average more than five hours of sleep but that’s easier said than done. After she tries to move her awkward mascara around and it goes nowhere she gives up and calls Rose.

“Code Purple.”

“What does that mean. We don’t use codes—”

“Yeah, yeah, I have a problem.”

She gulps. It sounds oddly strange to say out loud.

“Yeah girl. What’s up?”

“ _IthinkIhaveacrushonBen—”_

“What?”

She takes in a deep breath. “I think I have a crush on Ben.”

“Dumbass. I could’ve told you that. Hell, half our grade could tell you that.”

_“What?”_

“Jess said the MUN girls were bitching about you stealing their man. You know shit spreads like wildfire from the political nerds. And Pagers was telling me some really weird shit about how some girl thought they were meant to be because he was America and she was the U.A.E and they were talking about oil futures at their last conference, honestly that was a really off putting conversation—”

“Oh, shit—”

“It’s cool, though. Why’re you realizing this now?”

“Er—I’m with him?”

“What?” there’s a pause. “You’re with him at seven-thirty on a Friday night. What the hell, Rey! Are you on a date?”

“I . . . I don’t know?”

“What the fuck do you mean you don’t know?”

She condenses the day’s events into a quick paragraph for Rose and is hit by radio silence. “Hello?”

A giggle sounds over the phone for a brief second before Rose breaks out again. “Only you could be on a date and then not realize it. You’re seventeen, Rey, not stupid. Everyone knows why you go to the movies with someone you like—”

“Everyone knows?”

“Well, yeah, either to hold hands or give them a blow job—”

“ _Rose!”_

“—I’m just speaking the truth, girl. Don’t sit in the back. I’ve heard horror stories.”

Her phone beeps and she puts it down to check what the notification is.

**Ben:** hey, time to go. you good? 

**Rey:** Yeah, sorry, be out in a sec

“Screw that, Rose. I gotta go.”

“Don’t have _too_ much fun,” her best friend chortles, and Rey angrily presses the hang-up button before throwing her phone into her backup and blotting out her face with a paper towel again and leaving.

* * *

  
  


Ben and Rey don’t sit in the back. They sit right in the middle-back. He’d started to head to the far corner and she’d placed an army on his shoulder to tug him back. He’d been fine with it and they’d settled in together, each with a bottle of water. They’d both passed on greasy theater food, Ben claiming he could already feel his brain rejecting all the sugar he’d eaten.

She’d elbowed him in the ribs. “You got _full sugar_ Thai Milk Tea. I mean, who does that?”

He pouts but doesn’t reply so she’d counted that as a win as she’d handed the guy in the corner their tickets. He’d looked vaguely familiar and she mentioned it to him as they took a seat.

“Oh, yeah,” he’d said with a frown. “He’s a senior, He played on JV with me two years ago.”

That hadn’t really meant much to her so she’d relaxed back in her seat as the previews started to play. They whisper a little bit before the movie actually starts, getting angry looks from the middle-aged man sitting next to them. In order to ensure that he doesn’t explode they stay quiet as the movie starts.

It’s not that great but it’s still _Galaxy Wars,_ so she stares enraptured anyways. Her favorite character, Kylo Ren, dies in this movie, and she doesn’t really want to relive that. In a moment of weakness as his enemy-slash-lover, Kira, accidentally kills him (the first time), she reaches out and grabs Ben’s hand.

He squeezes it and doesn’t let go as the next heartfelt scene plays on. In fact, he leaves it there. It feels sort of nice. She’s not really used to having her hand held. And then with a wince she remembers Rose’s note. Her hand spasms at that moment and although Ben must have felt it he doesn’t say a word, just holds on a little tighter.

She’s full out sobbing when Kylo dies near the end, even though she’s seen it before — she attributes it to her coming period, because she is _not this emotionally attached to a fictional character —_ and Ben reaches out to tap her shoulder. When she looks away as Kylo fades he looks a little distraught as well, although he doesn’t actually cry.

“You okay?” she whispers, even though it’s rather ironic considering she’s the one with tears running down her cheeks.

“Yeah — yeah,” he says back, quietly. “Sorry, that just — it hit me. I sort of really got his character, you know?”

“Yeah,” she whispers. She looks into his tightened face, at his lips brought together in a line, and then looks at the happy reunion scene of Kira and her friends on the large projector.

Then she makes a slightly emotional decision and brings her head up and kisses him.

She mostly succeeds, but it’s awkward and bumpy and full of teeth for a minute and he isn’t moving back and _holy shit that was a bad decision_ until he _is._ When he draws away that crooked smile is back on his face. She’s sure she looks like a god awful mess right now, her makeup probably even more smeared and tear tracks across her face, but she feels like laughing.

“This — um, might be a good time to tell you —” he cuts out as the credits start rolling and the crowd starts clapping.

She winces at the noise, but it isn’t taking the smile off her face. “What?”

“I said,” he repeats, waiting for the din to go down before he continues, “I think this is a good time to tell you that I like you.”

She can’t help it. Right then and there she bursts into laughter before reaching across to give him a loose hug. “I think I like you too, Ben.”

  
  
  


  
  


**Author's Note:**

> i feel like a lot of 'nerd' aus kinda miss the modern mark so . . . i hope i did this justice. totally based on a bunch of experiences my friends and i have had!
> 
> as always i really hope everyone is staying safe right now! please leave me a kudos/comment if you liked this :)


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